Women Leaders in Village Panchayats

I studied until the x Standard before getting married. My brother had an

extremely active public life and was a member of the Panchayat Samiti,

and was later elected President. He inspired me and I ventured into income

generation by forming SHgs, which involved other village women as well. I

was soon elected the President of a group of 15 SHgs. After I lost my husband

to cerebral malaria, I had to earn a living for my young son and myself, so I

continued to work as before. I am thankful to my in-laws for their valuable

and unfaltering support of all my activities.

When the Tube gram Panchayat seat was reserved for women for the first

time in 2007, people persuaded me to contest for the post. I agreed. The

4 other candidates had some powerful (moneyed) groups backing them. In

spite of public support for me, my rivals’ male relatives and supporters tried

to pressure me. They offered me Rs.1 Lakh to withdraw; but when I did not,

they resorted to physical and psychological harassment. They taunted me by

saying, “Who do you think you are? Don’t you know that you are a widow?

What can you do without a man by your side?” I realized then that I needed

immense strength and resolve to face the travails of public life. I told them that

I have confidence in my abilities and will do everything for the development

of my Panchayat, and said that they could not stop me with their money. This

resulted in threats to my life and even an attempt to kidnap my son during

the run-up to the elections! However, I won by a margin of 750 votes out of

5000.

Due to pressure exerted by different vested interests in the village, the Executive

Officer cum Secretary did not cooperate with me in Panchayat matters. Even

the BDO hid information and tried to force me to sign blank papers. When

I refused, demanding relevant information, and insisted on putting forth the

demands of the Panchayat, they said, “Do as you wish, but we will find ways

to achieve our ends; let’s see what you can do”. They tried to wean away my

supporters in the Panchayat by bringing a no-confidence motion against me.

I noticed that the long-standing Secretary, who was in charge of disbursing rice

under the Antyodaya Scheme, was giving 34 kg of rice for Rs.110/-, instead

Prasanti Behera
President
Panchayat: Tube
Block: Banarpal
District: Anugul